Mutiny, Review: Seize on the Thai seas
Mutiny, Review: Seize on the Thai seas
That’s cheating! When you have a ship as the main locale/vessel of your film, a crew of 20+ and not one of them rebels, how can you call it a mutiny? There are another 20+ persons on the Thailand registered ship, Artemis, but these hapless victims are being transported as human traffic. Obviously, they cannot mutiny. The catch is in the detail. There are two other persons on board: a woman employee of the company that owns the ship, and a Security guard/bouncer of the owner of the company, who has just been murdered, in a gun-fight from which the ex-cop muscleman managed to escape. His name in the film is Cole Reid. The actor playing Cole Reid is also the producer of the film, Jason Statham. So, I told you there is no mutiny, which, by definition, means revolt against authorities by armed servicemen. As in Mutiny on the Bounty (1932, 1965), or the Indian Sepoy Mutiny (1857). Here, we have a one-man and one-woman army taking on a crew smuggling poor Thai men, women and children, to be sold on the high seas. I already said that the hero of this film is Jason Statham. Do you still want to know what is it about? Okay, no problem.
The cop is more than a cop. He is a former Royal Marine commando too. His father died while saving his life. His grand-father was also a cop. Since he is the only survivor, and he is on the run, he is framed for the murder of his billionaire Thai boss, Tibu Campallo, in a car ambush, orchestrated with the help of complicit Thai police. Campallo had just sold the company because his son, Kameron, was not interested in the shipping business. Reid sets out to prove his innocence by finding the people responsible, some of who are on the container ship that all is set to sail. He chances upon a passport of one of the assailants, which he doctors to make it look his own, and boards the ship, using it. On board, he hides, like a stowaway, but is shocked to learn that there is one whole container on the ship that is full of human beings, being smuggled. He wants to get them released, but the ship is already in the mid seas.
Meanwhile, the captain of the ship, Marko Madsen, is suspicious of the woman, Angie Ellis, who has been officially sent to join the crew as third mate, at last minute. A single mother, she had just returned from a trip and looking forward to spends quality time with her daughter. But, on a phone call, she is threatened with dismissal if she refuses to go on the trip. It is soon revealed that the entire crew, including the Captain, is a bunch of hardened criminals, all heavily armed. Reid breaks open the door of that container, but is seen by a crew member. Reid kills him, but has to back off, because his presence has been detected. Angie, on her part, stumbles upon the stowaway traffic. Although not a combat trained officer, she gets into the thick of the action. Battling the foe, she stops a bullet on her shoulder. Soon, Reid and Ellis meet, and realise that they have a common goal. Reid is carrying a bag full of weapons, foodstuff, tools and a first-aid kit. He surgically removes the bullet and the two unite. Co-incidentally, a US Navy patrol ship is in the area near the Philippines, and Ellis manages to send a distress signal to it. On Artemis, Reid becomes a one-man army, assisted by a one-woman back-up, and picks the gang-members out, one by one.
Mutiny, written by Lindsay Michel and J. P. Davis, begins and ends with the same shot, a technique called organic unity. My own script, in the film school direction class, had this very element. A short ‘prequel’ leads to the entry (or, rather exit, considering it sails out) of the large ship. The idea of bringing in a female partner was good, and helps move the film on a dual axis, rather than tracking a solo fusillade, called Jason Statham. For the greater part, the film stays on the ship, exploring almost every inch as an encounter point. At the end, a ‘sequel’ follows. Some parts are hard to swallow. How could an entire ship be laden with criminals pass through the immigration? Okay, so there are corrupt policemen, and on-the-take immigration officials, but there has to be some limit. The role of Kameron and the main villain, Daniles (who has Chinese features) in the sail, the subsequent murder of Tibu and the human trafficking is never explained in optimum detail. Messieurs Michel and Davis’s keyboard brings Reid and Ellis to the ship, and then, I guess, the action unit takes over. Bringing in a daughter who is crying for her mother’s presence, and Reid’s promise to unite the two, come what may, touches an emotional chord, but the trope has been used far too many times to be significant. A better and more imaginative idea is to bring the US Navy into the picture.
Jean-François Richet is not an often heard name in India. The French director is 60, and made his first film in 1995. He made his Hollywood debut with the remake of Assault on Precinct 13 (2005). His move from Gerard Butler (Plane, 2023) to Jason Statham should not surprise anyone. Plane grossed the time its budget. However, I do not think Mutiny is going to get anywhere near there. And that is the Plane truth. It has a motley cast, routine villains and the action is nothing to shout about. Moreover, the first shot, that of a car ramming into another, coming at right angles to each other, at high speed, and cutting to a close-up of Reid’s eyes, for no logical reason, is clumsy. Setting-up camera angles in the restricted spaces and corridors of the ship, the hull (the main body), bow (front), stern (back), bridge (command centre), keel (bottom spine), rudder (steering flat), propeller and the many stairways must not have been an easy task for cinematographer Brendan Galvin, and he acquits himself creditably. But some of the shots seem to go nowhere, which might be partly due to the fact that Reid and Ellis are not familiar with container ships, and are themselves exploring places to hide and spots to attack from. Editing by David Rosenbloom succeeds in retaining some interest right till the end, barring the jump cut at the beginning. At 95 minutes, it is of acceptable duration. Music by Marcus Trumpp is well conceived and in sync with the movie.
For fans of Jason Statham, the English actor who is now 59, and has been in the business of acting since 1993, might just about accept this film as one more addition to his CV. He is Jason Statham, rated as one of the most bankable stars of his time. No histrionics are demanded of him in Mutiny, so he has no need to try and offer any. British actress Annabelle Frances Wallis, who spent eight years in Portugal before coming to England to pursue a career in films, plays Ellis (rhyming surnames?). A loving mother, who join hands with a veteran cop, to release prisoners from human bondage, she is up to the mark. As Captain Marko, Danish actor Roland Møller looks sly and scheming, but does not strike the terror that could make him stand out.
Ramon Tikaram, as Tibu Campallo (hard time guessing the ethnicity of the actor or the character, though Tibu should from Thailand, where the prequel and sequel are set) is a rare piece of casting. Tikaram is the son of Pramod Tikaram, an Indo-Fijian officer of the British Army, and Fatimah Rohani, a Sarawakian (Malaysia) mother. His younger sister is singer-songwriter Tanita Tikaram, whose songs I played on radio, back in the 1980s, as an RJ. AS his son, Kameron, Chaneil Kular, with Indian/Pakistani features, is British, and began with a TV series on BBC. He gained further popularity with the Netflix comedy drama, Sex Education. In both outings, he had Muslim names, Tariq and Anwar. Although he made his Hollywood debut with the lead role in a thriller named Accused, he seems to have lost some ground and relegated to play Kameron in Mutiny. Curiously, he was given the moniker of Harri Bhavsar in Accused and Tej Jogia, in The Revenge Club. Guess he could be considered for being granted Indian or Pakistani citizenship! Also in the cast are Jason Wong, Arnas Fedaravicius, Adrian Lester (Spencer, the Black Captain of the Navy ship). A dignified and in command performance), Eugénie Richet as Violette Ellis and Simon Kluth as Jaran Daniles.
A modern action drama, a genre film, Mutiny is more a British film than a Hollywood enterprise. It has a misnomer of a title. Setting a container ship as the main locale and a seize on the high seas is a sort of novelty. Yet, it fails to rise above its own cramped narrative.
Rating: **
